The Green Bean Machine
by Faith Cooperdash
Summary: Dana Higgins, a shy, yet independent, feminist is attending her 6th year of Hogwarts. Her biggest dream is to accomplish something that will make her loved by many. Not something by pure luck that that Harry got away with... R&R!
1. A Nervous Wreck

Chapter one of The Green Bean Machine  
  
A Nervous Wreck  
  
I sat in a cabin of a train, solitary, listening to the humming sound the train produced with an occasional clack, clack. I viewed the landscape of England, the moors, to the mountains. Two girls were sitting on the long bench across from me all the way down, trying to ignore me. A giggle turned my head. The girls were eating Bertie Blotts every flavored beans. I was very curious if she consumed one the taste of shampoo or something like blueberry muffin. How I yearned to sit with them, to have another friend, but the chances of that were slim, or fat, however you would say that. So, I read their minds. It is a very long story, but I wanted to tell myself how special I was. When I was around eight, my Aunt Melinda made the most putrid green beans the Milky Way has ever had in existence. I held one between my skinny forefinger and thumb, and wondered how Auntie managed to make these and invite us every Thanksgiving to dine on these most unsavory veggies. The next thing I knew, I found myself inside her head, a large room full of filing cabinets with a light bulb hanging from a chain to illuminate the room. I had to be careful to dodge opening and closing cabinets, as I person is always thinking with information from their head. After searching, I found out why she makes those disgusting vegetables every year. They had run in the family since the fifteen hundreds. Now, those green beans aren't as bad as they were, now that I have found the meaning behind them. I've got the hang of the mind-reading thing now, and know which drawers to be careful around because topic the person is thinking about is very much related to the drawers I am avoiding. I have the hang of it now. I know exactly where to look in each person's brain. That's the way I learn people, by reading their minds. I'm too shy to go up to them. I'm too shy for anything. I don't why I'm even on this train. I don't know why I go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I don't know why I'm in Gryffondor. It's for the brave at heart, not me. My stomach always churns on the train to school each year, and fulfilling its duty, my stomach is once again churning. I wish ever so much it would stop. It is my sixth year. I should be over this by now. I only have one good friend, Hermione Granger. My grades just barely trail hers so we study a lot together. She started talking to me in the fifth year because no one else had. She is an absolute feminine humanitarian. Hermione is the only friend I have ever had. I peered into my rat's cage and looked at the back wall, which was a mirror. I saw a gentle face staring back, with kind blue eyes and wavy brownish blond hair pulled up in a low pony tail at the back of my head, but was pulled over to cascade down my left shoulder. That was me. The pair of girls who sat cattycorner silenced. I looked up to find Hermione and one of her friends, Ron, I believe his name is. I've always had a thing for red heads myself-my hair having the look of a reddish hue. 


	2. Surprises

The Green Bean Machine  
  
Chapter 2-Surprises  
  
"Hi Dana," Hermione greeted me cheerfully. The girls down the seat from me became hushed, and whispered to themselves.  
  
"Hey Hermione," I giggled from the girls silencing, because, surely, they had heard of the 'mind powers' of the one and only Hermione Granger. I patted the seat across from me for her to sit down on as she gracefully sauntered across the cabin in her robe. Right behind her was Ron Weasley. He looked at me, and then his ears took the hue of a valentine, then sat down next to Hermione. He was still wearing his regular clothes, a blue and yellow striped shirt with a Chudley Cannons icon in the right side of his chest and denim pants. I could tell for some reason that he was uncomfortable around me, so I became fascinated with the fine threads on the cushion I was sitting on and tried not to pay any attention to him. When I looked up, I saw Ron staring at my shoes. I thought if anything embarrassing was on my shoes, or if they weren't tied or they were mismatched. Before I was going to drown in all of the possibilities, Hermione interrogated me on my summer.  
  
"Same old, same old," I replied looking at a somewhat humored smile that appeared across Hermione's face. "Nothing new in the orphanage. I think something around eight girls got a home and two boys also, something around that digit. I don't know what it is with everyone adopting girls. I mean, they are nice and all, but so are boys."  
  
I looked up and Ron and my eyes met. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hermione's humored smile grow larger. I quickly looked at the floor, then to Hermione and smiled jollity. "I wish someone would take you in," she said soothingly and caringly.  
  
"It would be nice, but, you know, er, I mean." I stumbled across my words.  
  
Hermione smiled and nodded her head. She knew what I meant, knowing that I am not the sort of person that was selfish to get the best for myself. During that moment of silence, Ron was the one to speak. "I'b itter be gowing to change to mye robs."  
  
With that, he left. I must have had a confused look on my face because Hermione stated, "He was going to change his robes."  
  
I nodded comprehendingly. "He likes you, Dana."  
  
"What?" I said half in shock and disbelief.  
  
"He fancies you," Hermione said patiently.  
  
"Oh, um, that's nice," I replied with almost a bored sounding tone. "Well, no one has ever liked me before."  
  
"Well," said Hermione in a quieter volume, "you are pretty shy."  
  
"Thanks for restating the obvious," I replied with as restrained or more restrained voice.  
  
"I bet you would be the most popular girl in the whole school if you made your voice heard," Hermione spoke, encouragingly.  
  
I sat back, crossed my arms, and looked out the window. "Yeah, I bet your right. I just need a jumpstart, something that gets me in off the side of the road. I need something that pulls me to be in front of the crowd. For me to be a leader. Ugh, the words 'me' and 'leader' don't belong in the same sentence, yet." I smiled and looked back at Hermione. She smiled.  
  
"The key word is 'yet'," she enforced. Her calm smile that was giving me confidence suddenly pulled down to a frown, her misty brown eyes grew large, her thick bushy eyebrows rose, and her nostrils flared.  
  
"Do you smell that?"  
  
I slowly inhaled, and an incredibly familiar smell populated my nose. I closed my eyes. I remembered that smell coming from the orphanage's kitchen, and one of my friend's 'great' experiment, and that horrid fire that killed everyone that Thanksgiving Day. Smoke. I opened my eyes and gave Hermione a grim nod. Just then, I felt myself being pulled to my right. I looked over at Hermione and she was too. The whole train was. The train was tipping over. I heard shrieks from Hermione and other girls in different cabins. There was a moment of silence and I tried not to concentrate all of the blood on my knees and hands.  
  
Then, Hermione told me in an elusive voice, "Dana, now just might be your chance."  
  
________________________________________________________________________ Getting exciting?? I would LOVE your comments on this first of my fanfic stories. Thanks much!! ________________________________________________________________________ 


	3. The Cliff

The Green Bean Machine  
  
Chapter 3-The Cliff  
  
I hesitated for a few seconds, absorbing all of this shock. I thought about what I was staking. Suddenly, I had a scheme and thought about all of the people I would help, or save. I sprang into action. The train had tipped to its right. Therefore, instead of sitting next to the window I was idly staring at, I was sitting on the wall next to the door. "Hermione?" I asked, hoping there was an answer to her name. When I looked over to my right, I saw Hermione's thick hair in a pile. I hoped she was under that pile of tresses. "Yes?" she answered bleakly. "Hang in there, girl, I have a plan, I just hope it works. If I can do it, I'll get you out first. Don't worry. If you are bleeding anywhere, use part of your robe to soak it up and apply pressure to it. Hold it for about two minutes. I'll be back very, very soon. Hang tight." I got my rat cage and, not even bothering to check if Click, my rat, was okay I set it by Hermione. "No, Dana. I think I'll manage for a while, go help the others." I wasn't sure if I should take her advice because she was in a satisfactory state or if she was trying to be tough. There was no time to decide know. I had to get my plan into action before I worry about the outcome. I opened the door and jumped down. I found myself on another wall, on my hands and knees. I had to keep my head low to avoid a lung-full of smoke. I saw a group of Prefects a little ways down the aisle. I crawled down to them. They weren't getting anywhere with what to do as far as plans. Then, they noticed me. "Go back into your cabin," a few of them said in unison, orderingly. "No," I said firmly. My response shocked a few of them and they didn't say anything, but an irritated look came on most of their faces. "I have a plan-," I realized my voice was shaking. I was very afraid to do this, not knowing what would happen. "This is how the plan will work. Go, or in our case, crawl up and down the aisle and yell that Dana Higgins will come and rescue you from the large window in their compartment. And that is what I will do. Make sure you yell it loud, quickly, yet comprehensibly so will understand and sit tight." That was the best thing I had ever done in my life, so far. I had to carry through with what I was going to do. A few of the Prefects were still sitting in shock from my reply and, most undoubtedly, the traumatizing accident. "Go!" I shouted and they all came back to the bona fide world and started shouting up and down the aisle. I let out a huge sigh of relief only to suck it back in. I still had to rescue everyone. I hoped that conditions wouldn't get worse. I got back into the compartment that Hermione, and Click, were in. "Do you hear the Prefects?" I asked. "Loud and clear," was Hermione's reply. She seemed to be fine, but I couldn't tell. I crawled up the bench that I was sitting on at one point in time, not knowing something like this would happen. I got to the top of the bench. "Hermione, get to one side of this compartment, stand up and put yourself flat against it." That was what she did. I didn't want to tell Hermione what was going to happen or she might have lost her marbles. Shielding my face with one hand, I punched the window with the other. Glass shattered. I know my hand was covered in pieces of glass, it felt like my hand had fallen asleep. When I looked out of the window, I saw a hole large enough for me to climb out of. So, I did just that. When my upper torso was out of the train, I realized it was a windy day. Moreover, when I looked over the train, down where the wheels were, I discovered we were inches from falling down a cliff with no end, as far as I could tell. I froze. I knew I had to do this carefully, or we would all fall to our doomed depths. I took a deep breath and climbed out of the train. 


End file.
